98-year-old US woman, who co-owned a local newspaper, dies after police raid

A 98-year-old woman and co-owner of a local newspaper in Kansas, US, died due to trauma and stress induced by a police raid at her home for obtaining damaging information about a local businesswoman.

Joan Meyer was “stressed beyond her limits and overwhelmed by hours of shock and grief,” newspaper Marion County Record's office said in a statement following a raid on her and her son’s home on Friday.

“She had not been able to eat after police showed up at the door of her home Friday with a search warrant in hand,” it wrote. “Neither was she able to sleep Friday night.”

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Amidst criticism, Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody on Saturday defended the raid saying that once all the information is available, "the judicial system that is being questioned will be vindicated."

Computers, hard drives seized

The officers seized Meyer's computer, personal cell phones, the newspaper's file server and other equipment.

According to CBS, Officer Cody also allegedly injured reporter Deb Gruver's dislocated finger after he grabbed the latter’s phone.

“She tearfully watched during the raid as police not only carted away her computer… but also dug through her son Eric’s personal bank and investments statements to photograph them,” the paper said.

Owner vows retribution

Her son Eric vowed a legal response against Marion City and those involved with the search. He claimed that they were contacted by legal experts and came to the conclusion that the city violated federal laws and his team’s constitutional rights.

“Our first priority is to be able to publish next week,” Eric said, “but we also want to make sure no other news organisation is ever exposed to the Gestapo tactics we witnessed today.”

The police raid comes in the wake of a reported tiff between the paper and local restaurant owner, Kari Newell.

What led to the raid?

It was alleged that the newspaper, The Record, had obtained leaked documents that could have gotten Newell’s liquor license revoked, including evidence that the restaurateur had been convicted of drunk driving and continued to operate a vehicle without a license.

However, the paper decided not to publish the story and notified police of the situation, believing the documents were released by someone close to Newell’s ex-husband, the Kansas Reflector reported

Then the businesswoman during a city council meeting claimed that the newspaper was in illegal possession of the sensitive documents and that it leaked the news.

The paper then published a story on Thursday (Aug 10) to set the record straight, but that didn’t stop the police fromconducting the raid on Friday.

(With inputs from agencies)

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